Soil aeration tine

ABSTRACT

A soil aeration tine having a nose or apex end for soil penetration with a set of soil fracture faces carried thereon to fracture a portion of the soil in engagement with the soil aeration tine and a cutting tube positioned on the soil aeration tine with the soil cutting tube cutting a soil plug free of a further portion of the soil with the soil penetration tine having a lateral face for scooping out soil as the soil aeration tine is removed from the soil.

This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 09/821,373 filedMar. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,603 issued Feb. 4, 2003.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to aeration devices and, morespecifically, to a soil aerator tine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The concept of soil aerators is known in the art. Bjorge U.S. Pat. No.5,469,922 shows a towable soil aerator device for removing plugs of soilwhile forming an enlarged soil aeration pocket The aeration tubescomprise hollow cylindrical tubes that enter the soil at an angle to cutfree a cylindrical soil plug. As the soil aeration device moves forwardthe planetary gears in the soil aeration device cause the soil aerationtubes to pivot to form a soil aeration hole or pocket wherein the bottomportion of the soil aeration hole is larger than the top opening of thesoil aeration hole.

Generally, the soil aeration tubes are used to cut a cylindrical soilplug since cutting provides less soil compaction than driving a spikeinto the soil. As the soil aeration tubes are extended downward into thesoil they cut free a soil plug which contains grass, grass roots andsoil. The soil aeration tube is then lifted out of the soil to removethe soil plug which is usually discarded on top of the soil. One of thedifficulties with soil aeration devices is that a substantial amount ofsoil, grass and roots in the form of cylindrical plugs are left on topof the soil. These soil plugs must either be removed or allowed to breakdown as a result of being exposed to the elements. Generally, the largerthe soil plugs the longer it takes for the soil plugs to break down.

In the present invention, the size of the soil plugs left on top of thesoil is substantially decreased through an aeration tine that piercesthe soil to fracture the soil around a portion of the tine while anoffset soil cutting cleat or cutting tube extends partially along thetine to cut a portion of the grass and soil around the soil aerationtine. By both fracturing the soil and cutting a soil plug free of thesoil on only a portion of the soil around the tine one can minimize thesize of the removed soil plug. In addition, a top surface on the soilaeration tine assists in scooping out soil from the aeration pocketthereby leaving a soil aeration pocket partially formed by soilfracture, partially formed by scooping soil and partially formed by aplug cutting action without the soil compaction produced by driving aspike into the soil.

The tine for penetrating the soil includes an elongated member having anose or apex for soil penetrating, a soil fracturing section forfracturing the soil and a soil cutting tube extending partially alongthe elongated member to enable the tine to form an aeration hole in thesoil through a process of fracturing and soil removal to therebyminimize the size of the soil plugs removed from the soil.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,922 discloses a soil aerator having a planetaryaeration system for forming a soil aeration pocket.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,486 discloses a tine wheel having a coring tinepositioned at the end of the tine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A soil aeration tine having a nose or apex end for soil penetration witha soil fracture section to fracture a portion of the soil in engagementwith the soil aeration tine and a cutting tube positioned aft of an apexend of the cutting tube but proximate the soil aeration tine to allowthe soil cutting tube to cut a soil plug free of a further portion ofthe soil. A soil lifting face allows for scooping soil out if the soilaeration tine is rotationally removed from the soil.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a soil aerator device having a set ofaeration tines;

FIG. 2 is a top view of an aeration tine;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the aeration tine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3a is a front view of the aeration tine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3b is a back view of the aeration tine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the aeration tine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a partial side view showing the aeration tine of FIG. 2penetrating the soil;

FIG. 6 is a partial side view showing the aeration tine of FIG. 2partially rotated within the soil; and

FIG. 7 is a partial side view showing the aeration tine of FIG. 2emerging from the soil;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pull type soil aeration device 10having a frame 11 supported by a pair of wheels 12. A gear mechanism 13,which is connected to the power take off shaft of a tractor (not shown),rotates the tine holders 14 which contain a set of soil aeration tines15. In the embodiment shown the aeration tines are located on parallelmembers and rotate in an epicycle or planetary manner. A soil aerationdevice providing planetary motion is more fully described in Bjorge U.S.Pat. No. 5,469,922 titled Soil Aerator issued Nov. 28, 1995 and isincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 2 shows a top view of soil aeration tine 15 capable of bothfracturing and removing soil. Soil aeration tine 15 comprises anelongated member 20 having a central axis 19. Elongated member 20 has afirst section 22 terminating in an apex end 23 and a second section ormounting end 21 for mounting elongated member 20 on a soil aerationdevice. Mounted to elongated member 20 is a cylindrical soil cuttingtube 25 which is positioned rearwardly or aft of apex end 23 so thatwhen apex end 23 of elongated member 20 is axially driven into a patchof soil the apex end 23 of elongated member 20 penetrates the patch ofsoil before the soil cutting tube 25 engages the soil. As the firstsection 22 penetrates the soil it fractures the soil to form a partialsoil aeration pocket. Next, the soil cutting tube 25 which is positionedaxially rearwardly of the apex 23 and has an annular cutting edge 25 cand a concially tapered surface 25 a engages the soil aft of the apexend and proximate the soil aeration tine 15 to cut a plug of the soilfree of the soil. Thus the fracturing of the soil occurs in the soilaround the lower portion of the hole and both fracturing and soilremoval occurs in the soil zone proximate the cutting tube which resultsin a soil aeration pocket in the soil where the soil aeration pocket islarger than the soil plug cut free of the soil and also without the soilcompaction that would occur if a spike were driven downward into thesoil.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of soil aeration tine 20 illustrating a portionof a divergent soil fracturing section 22 which includes an upwardlycurving soil fracturing face 20 a and an upwardly curving soilfracturing face 20 b that terminates at apex end 23. FIG. 3a shows theopposite side of soil aeration tine 15 illustrating the other side ofthe divergent soil fracturing section 22 which includes identicalupwardly curving soil fracturing faces 20 c and 20 d that terminates atapex end 23. A soil lifting face 24 extends laterally from side-to-sideof soil aeration tine 15. The soil lifting face 24 forms a scoop orspade so that when the soil aeration tine is rotationally removed fromthe soil the soil face 24 can lift or scoop soil from the soil aerationpocket.

The soil cutting tube 25 has a leading and annular cutting edge 25 cthat diverges outwardly along annular face 25 a to the cylindricalshaped soil cutting tube 25. The cutting edge 25 c of cutting tube 25 ispositioned a distance L rearward of the apex end 23 of soil aerationtine 15 to enable the soil fracturing section 22 to penetrate andfracture the soil before the soil aeration tube cuts a soil plug free ofthe soil. In the embodiment shown the soil cutting tube is positioned atleast one and one half inches rearward of the apex end to ensure thatthe length of the soil plug is kept to a minimum. On the other hand thesoil cutting tube should extend sufficiently far along elongated member20 so as to ensure that one can cut through the top layer of grass andsoil. Thus, in the embodiment shown in the drawings the end of the tine15 lacks an end coring device.

FIG. 3b shows a back view of soil aeration tine 15 with a first line 31extending outward from the central axis 19 of elongated member 20 and asecond line 30 extending outward from the geometric center of cuttingtube 25 with the distance between the centers indicated by the dimensionx. That is, FIG. 3b illustrates that the cutting tube is laterallyoffset from the elongated member 20 so that cutting tube 20 andelongated member 20 enter the soil in a side by side condition.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of soil aeration tine 15 illustrating that thesoil fracturing faces 20 a and 20 c extend axially along elongatedmember 20 and terminate at apex end 23. Thus the under side of aerationtine 15 presents soil fracturing surfaces 20 a and 20 c while the topside of soil aeration tine 15 presents the latterly offset andrearwardly positioned cutting tube 25 for cutting the soil to remove aplug of soil and grass.

FIG. 5 is a partial schematic illustrating how soil aeration tine 15penetrates a patch of soil 40 at an acute angle φ with respect to thetop soil. In the first step the soil aeration soil fracturing surfaces20 a, 20 b on one side of elongated member 20 and the soil fracturingsurfaces 20 c and 20 located on the opposite side of the elongatedmember penetrate the soil with the soil fracturing surfaces entering thesoil at an acute angle causing the soil proximate the soil aeration tine15 to fracture upward rather than compact. That is the acute anglepenetration of the soil fracturing surfaces with the fracturing surfacesfacing upward produces an upward component that forces the soil upward.As the soil can fracture and move upward the resistance to soilcompaction above the soil aeration tine 15 is less than the resistanceto soil compaction in the lateral direction. That is, lateral displacingsoil produces increased soil compaction since the soil must compactagainst itself. Thus avoiding direct lateral compaction inhibits soilcompaction. At the same tine the soil fracturing faces fracture theportion of the soil located ahead of the soil aeration tine the cuttingedge 25 c, which trails the apex end 23, cuts a soil plug free of thesoil. In the embodiment shown the cutting edge 25 c extendssubstantially perpendicular to soil aeration tine 15 to enable the soilaeration tube 25 to capture a soil plug aft of the apex end 23 as thesoil aeration tine 15 is driven axially into the soil. It should bepointed out that although multiple soil fractring faces are shown it isenvisoned that only a single soil fractirng surface could be used.

FIG. 6 illustrates the step when the soil aeration tine is rotated in aclockwise direction as the tine is being moved forward. This rotationalaction results in an aeration pocket 41 being formed in the region firstpenetrated by the soil aeration tine.

FIG. 7 illustrates the further enlargement of the soil aeration pocket41 as the soil aeration tine 15 continues in a compound motion as aresult of the planetary action that drives the tine rearward during therotation of the support mechanism and forward due to the pulling of thesoil aeration device and the rotation of the aeration tine. As a result,the compound rotation causes the soil aeration tine top face 24 to liftor scoop soil from the aeration pocket while a cut soil plug 42 is heldin cutting tube 25 to be disposed of on the ground when the soilaeration tube 15 exits the soil. The result is that one can form a soilaeration pocket 41 with a minimum of soil compaction and a minimum ofdisplaced soil as the soil aeration tine with the aft cutting tuberemoves a soil plug of substantially smaller volume than a soil aerationtube located on an apex end of a soil aeration tube. Consequently, lesssoil is left on top of the soil since the soil plugs formed by thepresent method are smaller than soil plugs formed by the end coremethod. Yet at the same tine the aeration holes 41 formed in the soilare as large or larger than holes formed by a conventional cylindricalcutting tubes.

Thus the method of making a soil aeration hole 41 comprises the step ofextending an elongated member 20 having a lateral face 24 on one sideand a soil diverging section formed by faces 20 and 20 c on the otherside into the soil to fracture the soil proximate the diverging faces.In addition, one cuts a soil plug free of the soil with the soilaeration tube by cutting the soil plug from the soil located rearwardand lateral of the diverging faces 20 and 20 c. By rotationally removingthe elongated member 20 one can free the soil plug and form a soilaeration hole 41 having a top opening smaller than a bottom opening asshown in FIG. 7. Also by rotationally removing the elongated member 20with the apex end 23 and lifting surface 24 one can partially scoop outsoil with the soil lifting face 24 on the elongated member.

In the embodiments shown the soil cutting tube 25 has an externaldiameter larger than the external diameter of the aerator tine.Although, it is submitted that the diameter of the soil cutting tube 25can be governed by other factors such as soil types and soil conditions.

Thus the soil aerator tine 15 can include at least one soil fracturingface in a diverging section 22 which diverges in a direction rearwardfrom an apex end 23 on soil aerator tine 15 and in a direction away froma lifting face 24 on soil aerator tine 15. The soil aeration device 15illustrated in FIG. 3a shows two soil fracturing faces 20 a and 20 csymmetrically positioned around a central axis 19 extending through thesoil aeration tine elongated member 20. A review of FIG. 3a shows thatapex end 23 on soil aeration tube 22 is located lateral of the centralaxis 19 extending through the soil aeration tube 15. By having the soildiverging faces forming an off center apex 23 on one side of the soilaeration tine 15 the soil against the soil face 24 is penetrated withoutcompaction while the soil above the soil aeration fracture faces isforced away from the soil aeration tube. When the soil aeration tube isdriven at an acute angle into the soil the diverging fracturing surfacesmove the soil upward which fractures the soil without compacting thesoil.

I claim:
 1. The method of making a soil aeration hole comprising:extending an elongated member having a lateral face on one side and adiverging face on the other side into the soil; moving the soil upwardto fracture the soil proximate the diverging face without compacting thesoil; cutting a soil plug free of the soil; and rotationally removingthe elongated member to free the soil plug and form a soil aeration holehaving a top opening smaller than a bottom opening.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the step of cutting the soil plug free of the soilcomprises cutting the soil plug from the soil located rearward of thediverging face.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of cutting asoil plug free of the soil comprises cutting the soil located laterallyof the lateral face of the elongated member.
 4. The method of claim 3wherein the step of rotationally removing the elongated member comprisesat least partially scooping out soil with a soil lifting face on theelongated member.